State teacher bonus program another stressor for Volusia County school district

By Cassidy Alexander calexander@news-jrnl.com

Tuesday

Oct 9, 2018 at 9:23 PMOct 9, 2018 at 10:12 PM

A lawsuit to get rid of the state's teacher bonus program heads to mediation next month, naming the Volusia County school district as one of many defendants — which is ironic, because Volusia also wants to see the program end, so it could use the money to give raises for all its teachers.

As contract negotiations between the district and teachers union dragged on late Tuesday night, the bonus program is a facet of compensation that hasn’t come up much over the past six months and has an uncertain future if the pending lawsuit is successful.

[READ MORE: Volusia school district, teachers union waiting for each other to compromise]

The Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program, established in Florida in 2015, gives high-performing teachers a boost each year based on evaluations and test scores. Last year, Volusia County teachers received a combined $4.2 million from the program.

But the Florida Education Association, the state teachers union, is suing the state and all 67 school districts to invalidate the program. The lawsuit, filed a year ago, claims the program discriminates against older teachers and minorities.

On this, at least, the district and teachers union are of one mind. When the lawsuit was filed last year, Volusia United Educators President Andrew Spar called the program “ill-conceived legislation” and said he’d prefer the funds be given to local school districts to be applied to raises.

That’s the ideal scenario for the school district as well. That’s why the district’s general counsel Mike Dyer called the fact that the Volusia district is a defendant in the lawsuit “still puzzling.”

Money matters

Redirecting the money from the Best and Brightest program to local school districts to put toward teacher salaries is one of Volusia County’s legislative priorities for the year.

Teachers can get $800, $1,200 or $7,200 from the Best and Brightest program. Last year, 3,725 teachers — or 80 percent of all Volusia teachers — received $4.2 million in bonuses.

It costs a little more than $3 million to give a 1 percent raise to all Volusia County employees. Volusia’s average teacher salary of $45,491 is below the state average.

Only classroom teachers are eligible for the program. Employees like media specialists or academic coaches can't receive the state bonuses.

But the Best and Brightest program is just one pot of state money the school district would like to have in its coffers to go toward raises. Another oft-cited funding chunk the district is missing: the money it loses from the district cost differential.

The DCD is the state formula that takes cost of living and wages in a district into account. Districts with higher costs of living get more money. In Volusia, the state sends back 96 cents for every tax dollar thanks to the formula. Since the formula went into effect, Volusia has missed out on $150 million, more than any district in the state. For this year alone, it’s a $10 million hit.

Further, the state increased the base student allocation, or the discretionary funding districts receive, by only 47 cents per student this year. That’s the money the district has to spend on things like new positions, increased security costs and salary increases. In Volusia, the additional $12 million wasn’t enough.

The district had to dip into its reserves to balance the budget this year to offer employee raises — something that’s long concerned district officials. They’re quick to liken the move to paying your electric bill out of your savings account. The bill, or raise, is recurring. But your savings are finite.

The paltry increase, combined with the DCD and the money going to the Best and Brightest program, has long been a point of frustration for the district.

“We are not being provided the funds to provide the pay raises that we believe employees deserve,” Dyer said. “But Tallahassee is making those decisions for us rather than your locally elected School Board.”

What’s next

The state union is suing to remove the program, and Volusia County is caught between the organization and the state. In November, the district’s counsel will attend a mediation session with all the other defendants in an attempt to settle the issue. However, school districts will have little room to negotiate because lawmakers approve funding for the program each year.

If a settlement can’t be reached, the case will go to trial in February. Motions for summary judgment are due in October, and a pretrial conference is set for January.

Late Tuesday night, the district and teachers union were still working out the finer points of their contract.

Negotiations began in April, and salary isn't the only thing at issue. The length of the elementary school day, the salary schedule and health insurance are also up for debate. And although those other contract items make up the majority of the discussion at the bargaining table, salary is still what teachers are watching.

“We’re not respected as professionals,” Richard Harris, a Blue Lake Elementary fifth-grade teacher, said while holding a sign at a busy Daytona intersection during a Sept. 28 protest. “And the district is showing that by their refusal to give us an adequate raise.”

On salary, the district has consistently expressed that its hands are tied by the state.

"We adopted a budget for 2018-19 with a $3.2 million deficit, and we really are doing the best we can," said Deb Muller, the district's chief financial officer. "And we’ve expressed that over and over again at the table, that we certainly value teachers and make them a priority, but you can only make due with the money you have."

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